Dundamma Gurappa Wali
From: Atheni, Belgaum
Dundamma hails from a very poor family in Chincholi Village, Gulbarga District in North Karnataka. When she was born her eyesight was normal but when she was three years old due to some eye infection, she lost her eyesight. The doctor who diagnosed her condition advised her parents to remove her eyeballs due to severe infection and to contain further problems. Since there were other visual impaired children in the neighboring village, her parents were able to get some advice with respect to educating a blind child. With that they had her continue her education.Her parents helped her in many ways during her studies up to 10th standard. Post her 10th standard, when she expressed her interest to continue her studies, parents objected to it.Since she was confused about her future, a well-wisher introduced her to Sister Ancy of Nirmala Bhavan in Atheni. Sister Ancy came forward to help her by giving her shelter in Nirmala Bhavan’s boarding home.
Then after taking special permission from Aravind Mills, she was moved to Mitra Jyothi’s main campus and enrolled in the ILS program as a “Need Based Candidate”. Here she was provided specific training to make her independent and mobile so that she can commute to work every day by herself. After a month of vigorous training and evaluation, Dundamma moved back into the CEWD. She restarted working for Arvind Mills in Bommasandra, Bangalore since August 2017. She is very happy to be independent both in terms of her mobility and her financial needs.
Dreams and Aspirations
Dundamma wishes to lead a normal and independent life and be a role model to other visually disabled people.
Impact of Mitra Jyothi
Dundamma was living a life of complete dependency. She had lost all family support after she rebelled to study further and moved to Nirmala Nivas. After her initial skill training at Nirmala Nivas she was quite certain that she wanted to work and earn for her living. She did not want to be dependent on anyone. She was very lost and did not know the means to achieve her aim of being independent. At that time, Mr. Veeresh introduced her to Mitra Jyothi. Mitra Jyothi brought about a big change in her life by guiding/training her step by step in making her dreams come true both in terms of financial independence and mobility. By providing her the opportunity to work and providing a safe and secure accommodation to live, Mitra Jyothi has been her guiding light in making her an independent and confident woman that she is today!